Seven Clips from ‘Bitch Slap’

One of the strangest things I see in the comments section is when a reader asks how we can dismiss one “bad” movie, when we seemingly liked another “bad” movie. There are two very simple reasons for this.

The first, and more obvious explanation, is that there are 20 writers on this site. We might have 19 writers who hate a movie, but if one writer likes it, and they happen to be doing the story on that movie, voilà — we like it. If you spend enough time in the business, you figure this out: People don’t say Mr. X of Entertainment Weekly didn’t like “Twilight,” they say Entertainment Weekly didn’t like “Twilight.” It’s not exactly true, but perception is reality in this case.

The second explanation is that expectations certainly color one’s perception. If I go into a theater expecting a good (or great) movie, that movie has to be even better than if I have no expectations. Conversely, if I am expecting nothing, the movie can be mediocre and surpass my expectations. Is it fair? Probably not. But it is what it is. Case in point, I didn’t see “The Hangover” until after Christmas. By that time I had been constantly bombarded with people telling me how funny it was. And, truth be told, I didn’t think it was that funny. Now had I seen it before the hype, I’m sure I could have just sat there and had a great time without any expectations. And, quite honestly, I will probably enjoy it far more the second time, since my expectations have dropped way down.

Luckily, the movie “Bitch Slap” doesn’t carry such heavy expectations. How could it? It is almost impossible to be disappointed by a movie called “Bitch Slap.” The title alone tells you this is a movie made with a wink and a smile.

I haven’t see in it yet, but with that title and the sure-to-be-fun cast — including Julia Voth (pictured above), Erin Cummings, Kevin Sorbo, Lucy Lawless, Renée O’Connor and Zoe Bell — I’m looking forward to sitting down and checking it out … with no expectations.